Unweaned Birds in Minnesota
Minnesota retailers will not be allowed to possess or sell any
bird that is not weaned if companion bills introduced this spring
are enacted in their present form.
Restrictions outlined in Senate Bill 1970 and House Bill
2348 apply to “any order of Psittaciformes bird.”
The bills also would prohibit brokers, aviaries and breeders
from selling unweaned birds at bird marts. However, the measures
do not prevent vendors from possessing unweaned birds.
The measures also would require pet shops and vendors to
maintain detailed records on birds, including their age at
the time of acquisition and at the time of sale as well as
the weight of any hand-fed bird under 1 year old. They would
be required to keep records for at least a year and make the
records available to humane officers, animal control officers
and law enforcement officers for inspection.
The proposed legislation stipulates fines of up to $1,000
for each violation. It does not authorize the seizure of unweaned
birds.
The twin bills are similar to a California bill that, as
originally introduced, would have banned unweaned birds in
pet shops altogether. An amended version of the California
bill became effective last September, permitting pet stores
to keep—but not sell—unweaned birds if the requisite
number of store personnel are certified by the Pet Industry
Joint Advisory Committee (Washington).
The Minnesota bills had not been scheduled for hearing at
press time. [July 2005 PET AGE]
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